After two months of heated debate around the pension reform project, the hour of the outcome has come.
Under the boos of the opposition in the National Assembly, Elisabeth Borne triggered article 49.3 to pass the controversial text.
A choice condemned by part of the French, some of whom demonstrated to shout their dissatisfaction.
Sometimes by using violence, as was the case in Paris on the evening of Wednesday March 16.
Clashes between demonstrators and the police, mountains of garbage cans strewing the streets of the capital, then burning under flames in the middle of the road... These strong images of an angry France have gone around the whole world.
Many of these shots illustrated the articles of the international press, sometimes placed at the top of their sites.
A French firefighter extinguishes a fire started by demonstrators, in Paris on March 16, 2023. JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP
The French are not the only ones to criticize the forced passage of the government.
Foreign newspapers did not hesitate to attack the image of Emmanuel Macron.
For
El País
, the choice of 49.3 highlights the "
haughty and disconnected character of the street
" of the French president, whose popularity is at an all-time low.
Emmanuel Macron, a “lame duck”
The Spanish daily also considers the text of the reform to be "
decaffeinated
", "
less ambitious than the initial
", due to the revisions made by the Senate and the joint joint committee.
The
Telegraph
, a British daily, even wonders if this reform has not made Emmanuel Macron “
a lame duck
”.
Read alsoPension reform: why hanging up before age 64 will still be possible
Several newspapers agree that the head of state comes out of this political episode.
When the Russian daily
Komsomolskaïa Pravda
mentions "
Macron has shown his weakness
", the
Telegraph
evokes the "
worst crisis since his re-election
" in 2022. For its part, the Italian
Corriere della Sera
writes simply: "
The use of 49.3 is a defeat .
»
The
Wall Street Journal
wants to be more positive and defends the head of state, "
caught between demographic and geopolitical currents
".
According to the American daily, Macron went back on pensions in order
to "increase military spending
" in the context of the war in Ukraine.
He did not have a choice.
"A circus arena"
Elisabeth Borne's speech to the National Assembly also marked the lines of foreign newspapers.
The
New York Times
mentions a “
palpable tension
” between the deputies of the majority and the Nupes who brandished signs “
64 years old is no!
“, while singing La Marseillaise.
A situation revealing "
anger
", "
frustration
" and "
national uncertainty
".
Die Welt
compares the hemicycle during the months devoted to the debates to “
a circus arena, where it was a question of knowing who would shout the loudest or make the best antics
”.
Arm of honor of Éric Dupond-Moretti, Renaissance deputy who left the Assembly in tears, photo montages… Everything is reviewed by the German daily.
Read alsoPension reform: a distressing collective rout
But then, what future looms for the President of the Republic and his government?
The
Guardian
and
El País
wonder if Macron "wasted
all his political capital
" bypassing parliament to push through his reform.
For
El Mundo
, the use of article 49.3 opens “
a political and social crisis with unknown consequences
” because “
it is experienced as an act of force on the part of the government
”.
